The World Will Know Your Name
by slvreflection
Summary: It had all started with a loss and a promise. With one ambition in mind, Roronoa Zoro continues to move forward. The scars and people around him are all reminders of his ultimate goal.


Disclaimer: I do not own anything!

A/N: I've been working on some character shorts lately. He is the first of my victims D hahaha I'm not sure if I got him quite right but I will leave that decision up to you the readers! Share the love of a new year and please review! Let me know what you think. It always helps and is welcome. :) Though it's a bit late... Happy Late New Year!

* * *

His name was Roronoa Zoro. Swords and fighting was what he lived for. If there were anything else in the world that could make him a fourth as happy as the other two, well, sake came pretty close. He was a tall finely muscular man with a strong posture. He was a simple young man with a simple dream. Complications took too much effort to think about; so he liked keeping things simple.

His simple ambition: To become the world's number one swordsman.

His simple method of achieving his simple ambition: Beat anyone who calls himself a swordsman.

His simple reason for his simple ambition: A promise.

It made sense in his head. And to be honest, that was all that mattered to him. He did not need others to understand his reason or goal. As long as he had that promise there was nothing else he really needed to push on. He had a job to do and nothing was going to stand in his way. No person or thing would stop him from become the best.

Why?

Simple.

He promised.

* * *

"_Let's make a promise!"_

That was how it started. A simple promise was made between a young girl and an even younger boy. Both who had ambitions that burned like the sun. After frustrated confessions of weakness and tears, they made a promise.

"_One of us must become the number one swordsman of the world!! Let's see who can reach that goal first!"_

However, it was not to be. The girl had lost her life even before she could proceed on the journey towards her dream… and their promise. The boy was left alone to carry the burden of the promise upon his small shoulders. In desperate tears and forced anger he proclaimed,

"_I will be even greater!! I will become the world's number one swordsman, so famous that even heaven will hear of my great name!"_

And so his journey began.

Alone with the pure white sword of his fallen rival and two black blades, he left childhood with but one promise. A swear that would drive him to the ends of the earth. At that time, he had thought that it was the only thing that he could rely on to push himself forward when reality was all too cruel. Even at the cost of his life, he was going to become the one to have the name that would shake the heavens. That way even she would know that he had kept true to the promise they had made oh-so-many years ago.

So when Luffy had strolled into his life so easily, he refused the black haired boy's existence and resisted it. Zoro had his own plans and ambitions to fulfill. There was nothing more important in the world than becoming the greatest swordsman there ever was. It may have been many years ago and a child's dream, but he was resolute to see it through. Besides his precious swords, the promise was the only other thing that he had to live for. So there was no way that he was going to help the straw-hatted idiot become the pirate king. But of course, Luffy was Luffy. The black haired male would have none of that and merely, by sheer dumb luck, blackmailed the swordsman into the Straw Hat pirate crew.

Zoro could not help but sigh at the younger boy's determination and ignorance of Zoro's rejection towards the invitation. Luffy had not forced Zoro to give up his dream but instead encouraged him. Others had called him crazy for dreaming so big. They told him that he was only throwing his life away or simply being asked to be killed. But that was not Luffy. The straw-hatted pirate smiled and proclaimed,

"_Good! To be the world's number one swordsman! Since you wanna be the pirate king's crew member, if you can't even accomplish something that small, then I would be very embarrassed as well!"_

It was that moment he realized how they were both chasing after wild dreams. Both of them were laying down their lives for simple yet immense dreams. Both had ambitions that burned like the bright fire of the sun. It was in that moment he had accepted the straw-hatted boy as his captain and became an outlaw of the sea.

With that, true to his word, he went from pirate hunter to pirate. No longer pure in status or name, Roronoa Zoro continued his journey as a fugitive. That did not bother him though. Whatever means was necessary he would achieve his goal. It did not really matter how he got there. The purity of his name mattered even less to him. All he knew was that, in the end, he was going to be the best.

His dream remained the same yet somehow somewhere along the way, his promise became second to his captain's dream. Of course he still wanted to become the most skilled and powerful man to ever wield a blade. But for some reason, protecting Luffy and his dream became just as important. Becoming the world's number one swordsman would be meaningless unless Luffy became the Pirate King.

His name alone was not enough anymore. He was determined to make the world learn the name of the new Pirate King Monkey D. Luffy. People everywhere will talk about the Straw Hat pirates. People will be wary of the thieving navigator Nami. They will listen to the wild stories of the lying sharpshooter Usopp. People will laugh about the ridiculous picture of the kicking cook Sanji. They will marvel at the medicines of the bashful reindeer Chopper. People will admire the vast knowledge of the ever elusive historian Robin. They will stare at the cyborg shipwright Franky's work. And of course be freaked out by the walking skeleton musician Brook.

He will make then cheer or fear the names Monkey D. Luffy and Roronoa Zoro. They will be known as the fiercest men to have ever sailed the seas. He planned to be even greater than Mihawk. He planned to make Luffy even greater than the original Pirate King Gold D. Rodger. There was only one man, other than himself, that he would die for willingly. That was the straw-hatted teenager that planned on becoming the pirate king. He was a leader and a dreamer worth dying for. Just like becoming the world's greatest swordsman was.

So each night, once everyone else had gone to sleep, the green haired man would stay up and look up at the sky. He would lightly touch the large diagonal scar on his chest in remembrance of his loss against the Mihawk. It served as a reminder that the best was out there and waiting for him, waiting for the challenge.

He was going to be the best, number one, the greatest. He will make the world know not just his name but all of theirs. Their names will be so great that even the heavens will tremble. Then Kuina would know for sure that he had kept his promise.

* * *

Fear not Roronoa Zoro, the world will know your name.

Know this Roronoa Zoro, the world will remember your name.


End file.
